Ore-classifier.



P.V G. JANNEY. ORE GLASSIFIER.

\ APPLICATION FILED DEC.22,1908. 928,455. Patented July 20, 1909.

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' f Frank G Janneg.

Wg M MM P.' G. JANNEY, ORE GLASSIFIER. APPLICATION FILED DEC).22,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z. I? 3` 1N VENTOR.

Pacea July 2o. 1909.

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UNITED sTATEs VPATENT oEEioE.

FRANK e. JANNEY, or SALT LAKE CIfrKUTAH.

ORE-CLASSIFIER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatV I, FRANK G. JA'NNEY, citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain neT and useful Im rovements in Gre-Classifiers, of which the fo lowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompa ying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation vto improvements in ore-classifiers; and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in .the specification and pointed out in the claims.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a plan of a series of ore-classifiers, showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is. a vertical longitudinal elevation and section on line 2--2 of llig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross section on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan of a portion of i(the worm-gear carrying the adjustable cams or tappets; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of Figi ll, the body of the wheel.

being in section; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6--6 of lig. 2Q

rlhe present invention is an improvement in What is known asl hydraulic ore-classifiers wherein the finely ground ore or pulp accompanied by such Water as' was used in connection with the grinding operation is caused to flow into a series of hoppers or containers,

` which receive a stream of Water in such a quiring as a ru Way as to cause the ore entering them to se arate into portions decreasing progressive y in Weight with the successive hoplpers, until the vlast hopper of the series is reac ed whence the slimes pass ed to the proper concentrating ap aratus. The purpose of thisprelirninary c assiflcation of the ore is to se arate the coarse from the fine particles ther'elbyfacilitating the subsequent process of concentration,peach rade of ore thus classified regle aldiii'erent-treatment during concentration. Aclassilier may be made up of one or more compartments lor containers which need not be limited to any particular form, those prevailing being conical or of the spitzkasten or pyramidal type, though they may be cylindrical, prismatic, or in fact, any sha e so long as they subserve theirl purpose, it eing understood that the ore masses Within them be given the necessary opportunity to settle through a rising column of water according Specification of Letters Patent. i

Application led December 22, 1908.

Patented July 20, 1909.

Serial No. 468,755.

to the' falling velocities ofthe various masses in such Water column.

The object of the present improvement is to construct a classifier in which the pul while falling in the rising Water column sha l be kept thoroughly stirred, thereby avoiding the formation of narrow channels in a mass of ore tending to bank against the sides of the classifier com artment or hopper.

A further o ject is to increase the ca acity of the classifier to a maximum by making it maintaining at all times a slight upward.`

currentv to prevent the escape of any slime with the discharge of the classified pulp from the bottom of the classifier.

A; further object is to provide means for keeping the spitzkasten compartments sub- Inergedvto a suflicient depth below the in- .take and overflow that there will be no appreciable current above the partitions sepan rating the compartments.

A further object is tb provide means for regulating the uantity of Water discharged With the classi ed pulp thereby preventing blocking of the classifier, and in fine, to introduce further and other details oi construction the advantages of which Will be apparent from a detailed description of the invention Which is as follows:-

Referring to the drawings, Iin Which Figs.

. l and 2 show a conventional form of a series of ore-classifier lioppers or spitzkasten well known inthe art, and which will herein be referred to only in a generalway, the classifier consists of a long tapering box or trough l, which is divided into a series of successive compartments, hoppers or containers A progressively increasing in depth and capacity toward the Wide end of the box,\this being the end at which the slime-Water is discharged and toward which the pulp undergoing treatment is directed by Athe general iiow of the water from one compartment to the next compartment of the series. The object of the appliance is to separate the coarser from the ner particles in concentrating work, so that material of approximately equal sizes may be taken oifv and concentrated on dill'erent machines. In operation, the finely ground ore or pulp flows from the small toward the large end of the classifier or box, accompanied by such water as was used in connection with grinding it, and which is sufiicient to advance such portion of it as is desired, through the various compartments. At the lower point or apex of each inverted pyramid (or cone.) this being the form of compartment or hopper herein shown, is a tee or equivalent connection B, having a comparatively large opening in the side and at the top, and arsmall openingo at the bottom. The water pipe 3 connects at the side opening and clear water is turned in through this discharge to the bottom of the hopper y or container A, whereupon the ore particles walls of the compartment.

in the container coming in contact with this rising water column, the heavier particles 'settle through this rising column and pass out with some of the clear water through the bottom small opening 0 in the tee. The

. lighter particles are constantly raised by the rising column and pass over the first baflie or partition P into the next container or compartment, the same action taking place in the successive compartment until the finest sands aretaken out of the largest compartment of the classier, the extremely line material o1; slimes flowing from the last compartment at the end of the apparatus, and passing to the proper concentrating apparatus (not shown). Of course each compartment or hopper A is a complete classifier in itself, so that a description of my present improvement in connection with a single compartment will answer for all, and I will accordingly confine the description to such single compartment.

The improvement ma be described as follows z-Mounted centrally within the compartment or container A is a hollow vertical rotatable shaft S to which are afiixed series of paddles or stirrer arms C progressively increasing in length with the inclination of the Theshaft does not quite reach to thefbottom of `thecompartment. It is sup orted at its up er end in a timber 4 suspen ed in any suitablb manner above the com artment, a suitable bearing D being provi ed therefor in the timber. The shaft is pro elled by a worm pinion E (on drive-shaft engaging a worm-gear F secured to the upper end of the shaft, and

may be rotated from any source of power (not shown) at any desired speed. The purpose of this appliance is to keep the pulp in the compartment thoroughly stirred; so that the rising water column will not have a tendencyto form channels, and more'particularly so that the pulp itself will not bank against the sides of the classifier compartment and leave only a narrow channel in the center for the classifying or stratifying column, a condition which obtains in classifiers where no provision is made lfor stirring the contents of the compartment. In-the ordinary classifier where the ore has banked on the sides, if the column of water be withdrawn, the ore will slide down the sides into the bottom, and

when the upward pressure given the waterJ .ment consistsrin the introduction of means for effecting an intermittent or periodic discharge of the ore-contents of the classifier. This consists of a rod or stem R loosely operating in the hollow shaft S, the lower end of the stem being provided with a valve V which controls the discharge port o formed in the tee B, or more properly in the adjustable valve-seat 5 screwed in the gland or ring 6 carried by the tee. To the upper projecting end of the valve-stem Ris secured an arm G, one end of which projects beyond the periphery of the gear-wheel F and isI guided between the fork members or bracket arms H which are of suHicient height to allow the arm G the necessary vertical movement in the reciprocations to which it is subjected in operating the valve V. Disposed along the top face of the gear-wheel F are a series of cams or tappets 7 which in the rotation of the gear-wheel impinge in pairs against the arm G (the latter being provided with suitable formations or rings 8 which the tappets directly im inge) and thereby lift the stem R and its va ve V.

After the cams have passed off the arm G,"`

the rod R with its valve V drops by gravity t its lowest position, in which it may completely close the discharge port o or leave a slight passage-way between thevvalve and its seat according to the adjustment of the plu 5. vThe discharge of the classified materia thus becomes intermittent instead of continuous as 1n the old form of classifiers. When the valve V closes the port o all the classifying water1 as it rises through the water inlet thus becomes available for purposes of classification and thus serves to stratify the agitated body of orein the compartment.. Experiment and experience have shown that the stratification is much more complete,

and the classification more perfect under anA y short closing,

intermittent discharge of the ulp than isf possible where the pulp is disc iarging continuously. By the use of the intermittent discharge, the quantity of water necessary.

for classication is materially decreased.

The quantity of sand or classiiied material discharged, depends of course on the interval during which the valve V remains open, and this is timed by the period of engagement be'- tween the tappet end of the cam 7 and the arm G raised by said cam. This end is made adjustable so as to give along opening; and or vice ,versa. The adjust'- ment of the cam to accomplish the' variable relations between the periods of opening and closingof the valve V referred to, is accomlished by means of a series of adjusting locks 7 which are secured to the tappet end of the ca mby means of a cap lscrew s. `The number of blocks used of course will depend on the relative lengthsottime desired for the `@en and losed positions of the, valve he greater the number of blocks, the longer the'valve remains open, since the tappet thus remains longer in` engagement with the arm G. 'After A the time adjustment. f is once finally effected, the stroke may be lengthened or shortened as desired by a proper adjustment of the valve-seat or plugl 5.' l

Experience hasfurther shown :that while the valve V'is in open position, there is always a tendency for some of the. slime to be drawn out'with the dischargel of the 'classified 3 material escaping throu h -the outlet o; and to avoid such a result make suitable provision for maintaining a slight upward current in the' compartment during such discharge. This has the effect of holdingthe 4 small particles of slimeinsuspension so that the danger of being ulled or rawn out with the heavy. materia is entirel eliminated. This result I accom lish as follows: 5To the lower end of the valve 5 is screwed a small chamber 9, which may be termed a retard ing chamber the bottom of which su ports a small bushing 10. The passage in t e bush-A ing as compared with that of the opening-,o is `somewhat ess or constricte'd so that the iiow therethrough is comparatively retarded, and this retarding reacts sufiiciently to 'divert upwardly a portion ofthe hydraulic current from the pipe 3. This upward current of course may be regulated by' substituting bushings having different sized openings,

' until the desired' result is secured.

Oneof the obiects of theprcsent invention is to dispense wlth all currents that are ordinarily found in classifiers; and-in this connection it may be statedthat the compartments or spitzkasten are kept submerged to a suiicient depth below the intake and overflow, so there will be no appreciable currentl above the partitions I separating the same. This depth of submergence can be regulated by lowering or raising the height of the partiof boards or sections inserted in grooves l1 on'the sides of the com artments. -By removing oriladding on a oard the depth ofV submergence of the particular compartment can be varied fon-the purpose desired. In anyl case, enough boards are always employed'to make certain that nov appreciable tion, each partition being built up of a series current exists above the top board or top of the partition thus built up.'4

The drawings obviously show only one form of construction under which my invenvtion maybe carried out, for it is apparent .that I am not restricted to any special design. of classifier, or any speciiic means of agitatmg or stirring the contents thereof, or any specific means for effecting theintermittent discharges of the ,pulp By virtue of such intermittent discharge all the duced at the bottom becomes available for classification a portion of the time, such portion bein the time when the valve V is seated. n ordinary practice where a cofntinuousfdischarge is .tairing place, only a por tion of the water so introduced is available jfor classification, the remainder continuously discharging with ,the classified materia With my im rovement the discharge may be' so regulate 4that the classiiied `pulp may be discharged with'a verysmall amount of water, whereas inthe old style,l if it is attempted to discharge a thick pulp, 'or, in other words, one with a small percentage of.V water iiowing with it, the classifier will become blocked unless it has the constant attention of the operator. As stated, the diswater introcharge orifice o maybe regulated by adjust- 1 ing the position of the plug 5 relatively to the valve V, so that the vertical traveler reciprocation of the'valveistem R lneed not be varied.

Having described my invention,

claim ist- 1. An ore-classifier comprising a suitable what I container, means for directing, thereinto through the bottom thereof rising columns of water, there being a. discharge port for the container, a rotatable mechanical agitator comprising a hollow shaft, and stirrer arms located within the .container for stirring the contents vdurin the classifyin o eration, a stem passing oo`sely through flue hollow shaft, a Ivertically reciprocating valve at the bottom ofthe stem trolling the discharge port aforesaid, and de-l vices on the stem and agitator intermittently ing of the valve and a corresponding discharge of the contents of the classier.

. 2. An ore-classifier comprising a suitable container, means Jfor ing columns of. water, there being a bottom discharge port'for the container, a hollow rotatable shaft within the container mounted over the discharge port, a series ofstirring.

beyond the shaft for conf lcoperating to eifect an intermittent Aunseat- Q directing thereinto risarms carried by the shaft and operating Within. the container, driving means at the upper end of the shaft, a series of tappets on such drivin means, astem loosely passing Ythrough the ollow shaft, a valve at the lower end thereof beyond the shaft for controllingl the discharge port, an arm at the upper end of the stem adapted to be lstruck by the tappets wherebythe stem and valve are intermittently lifted for, eHecting periodic discharges of the cgntents of the container during the classifying process.

3. An ore-classifier comprising a suitable container, means for directing thereinto an upward current of water, va valve for/inter- `mittently discharging the contents of the container, and means positioned beyond the valve in the path of the discharging contents for .retarding the flow thereof and thereby maintaining a slight upward current in the container during the periods of discharge.

` container, and a retarding chamber interposed in the path of the discharging contents 4. An ore-classifier comprising a suitable container, meansy for directingthereinto an upwardscurrent of water, means yfor inter-` mittently discharging the contents of the elow the discharging means .whereby a slight upward current is maintained in the container during the periods of discharge.

5. An ore-classifier comprising a suitable container, means for directing therein an upward current of water, means for intermittently discharging the contents of the container, a retarding chamber in the path of the discharging contents below the discharging means, and a bushing at the bottom of the chamber, having a comparatively constricted passage for'the escape of the material, said constriction resulting inthe formation of a slight upward current in the container during the periods of discharge.

6. An ore-classiier comprising a suitable container having a valve-controlled discharge opening, means for directing into the con- 'tainer an upward current of water, asuitable a itator, a series of adjustable tappets coup ed to the agitator, and intermediate connections between the tappets and valve for opening and closing the latter, and adjusting the relative timesbetween such opening and closing.

7. lA classifier having a reciprocating disi.

J. E. FLIEG, A. ENsIGN. 

